'Twas the Wednesday before Christmas And driving his white truck, Was Friscobob, our hero, Looking for railfanning luck. He left Sherman TX On a cool frosty morn To visit the daughter Of his second-oldest born. With a load full of toys And clothes in his cab Our hero rolled north On the wide concrete slab. His first stop was Wilburton Down 270 way, Where he saw some neat engines That were, he thought, A-OK: A B23-7 A former CSX, In RI red & yellow Next to two GE wrecks. Another B23, And a Super-7 rebuild, To pull a string of coal hoppers And have them all filled At an on-line coal loader At Red Oak, to the east. Then back west to McAlester For the Big Yellow Beast. This track was once owned By the CRI&P, \ And ran east from New Mexico To Memphis, Tennessee. It's now still intact to Elk City and eastward to Howe, But in either direction No tracks exist now. So on down the highway Ran our railfanning hero Hoping his KCS chasing Would not total zero. At a spot north of Heavener He came face-to-face With a grimy gray engine He knew as the "Big Ace"! This one locomotive Was the sole power for A long string of hoppers Stretching back more & more.
He drove down the road, And up ahead, lo- A round covered hopper From NdeM in Mexico! With the old eagle logo And the phrase "Unir Servir", What an odd-looking car To be shot way up here! But just as our hero Would think he'd seen enough Of Mexican railcars And other odd stuff, At the on-main-line fuel rack Sat a trio of SDs Each one a bit grimy, ANd made by EMD. First up was this engine From Canada way- An old SD40 In KCS gray. And an ex-NdeM diesel Still in two-tone blue, Sublettered TFM And in service, too! It once hauled the varnish Down Mexico way, But now it moves tonnage 'Cause freight will still pay.
Awesome! Dig the SDP40--I didn't realize how many of these still exist! Only GN and NdeM bought these, right? Didn't Espee buy some SDP's?
You're right, only GN and NdeM bought SDP40s. SP bought SDP45s, as did GN and EL, though EL's weren't "true" SDP45s - no steam generators. ACL, L&N, SAL and UP bought SDP35s. All SDPs that I know of remaining in regular service have had their steam generators removed. There are the TFM SDP40s, and I think there's at least one left on BNSF. There are some lease SDP45s, but I don't know if any still have 20-cylinder engines. WC had one, but I don't know its fate. As for SDP35s, there's one on shortline Squaw Creek Southern and one at Southwest Portland Cement in Victorville on Cajon Pass.
EL bought SDP45's simply to accomodate the larger fuel tank on the longer frame. They apparently wanted to skip a fuel stop on one of their priority trains.
At the point of this consist Was an engine quite nifty, An ex-Conrail diseasel, Rebuilt SD50: After shooting this consist Toward the yard he did head, Spotting tracks full of hoppers, And a caboose painted red: This old rebuilt crummy, Lettered for L&A, Is now repainted & sits Along the main highway. With a granite memorial To those railroaders now gone, And the folks whose tradition This caboose carries on. When out in the yard There arose such a clatter, I sprang from my truck To see what was the matter When what to my viewfinder Should suddenly appear, (Nope, no little red sleigh Or 8 tiny reindeer), But something else was in view For this railfan to see For moving slow in the yard Was a Retro-Belle from GE! In bright red & yellow And a sweet Brunswick Green, Was the coolest-looking power That I have recently seen. A new KCS GEVO, ES44AC, Was switching out the yard With a butt-ugly SD! BNSF's H2 colors Are badly overrated, Especially when They're this badly faded. For the record, this here Is an SD70MAC, And at least it runs well, Even if it looks wack. But Santa had errands That he had to do, So back into his truck This fat old man flew. And away up the highway He sped (nope, no cops), And he had miles to go Before he could stop. For at the end of this road trip There was someone quite fond Of seeing dear Santa, A cute blue-eyed blonde.
He dropped off his presents For his children and then, He spent time with his grandchild Wishing it would not end. For the railfanning was fun, But it was not the reason He drove into Arkansas This holiday season. It was to spend time And spoil and love His little granddaughter, A gift from above. And to give away presents To my daughter & son, And talk nice with the ex-wife (which was actually fun). And with kisses from the baby (and a tear in his eye), Our hero got in his truck, And away he did fly. But we heard him exclaim Ere he drove away straight, "Have a very Merry Christmas, And blessed 2008!"
